Travel

IT’S TIME TO VISIT & SAVE THE GREAT GREAT BARRIER REEF

Colorful fish swim at the Great Barrier Reef.

Great Barrier Reef. Courtesy of Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

Today is a day to celebrate and save the largest, and perhaps the most beautiful thing on our planet. It is critical.

Today is International World Oceans Day, an annual observation to honor, help protect, and conserve the world's oceans.

June is National Oceans Month. As we head into beach and boating weather, we connect more with the beautiful experience of the ocean. But of course it’s much more than that - it’s what generates the oxygen that we breathe, it regulates climate, and its an important source of food, medicine, and life itself.

World Oceans Day also provides an opportunity to take personal and community action to conserve the ocean and its resources.

This year, the conservation action theme for World Oceans Day 2018 will be preventing plastic pollution and encouraging solutions for a healthy ocean.

Blue starfish clings to coral at the Great Barrier Reef.

The Ocean Project and its growing network of over 2,000 partners in 120 countries help rally the world each June and expand ocean conservation year-round.

Officially recognized by the United Nations, World Oceans Day events include special events at aquariums and zoos, outdoor explorations, aquatic and beach cleanups, educational and conservation action programs, art contests, film festivals, and sustainable seafood events.

Fish, turtle and stingrays swim among coral at Great Barrier Reef.

If you’re up for travel, one of the most important ocean journeys you can consider is a visit to the world’s largest reef -- the Great Barrier Reef -- not only to witness its incredible beauty, but to witness its shocking destruction, and to help save it.

Aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth. It spans 1,400 miles off Australia’s northeast coast. The GBR is actually comprised of 3,863 individual reefs strung together.

Blue and purple coral at the Great Barrier Reef.

Nearly 9,000 species of marine life, including more than 1,600 species of fish, six species of sea turtles, 30 species of marine mammals, and 14 species of sea snakes, call the GBR home.

Red fan coral at the Great Barrier Reef.

The GBR is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Yet we are losing it rapidly. Coral decline is 'unprecedented' as new reports from the reef monitoring program shows northern section has recently lost half of its coral cover, according to a new report by the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

Diver inspects bleached coral at the Great Barrier Reef.

“The predicted consequences of climate change include more powerful storms and more frequent and more intense bleaching events.

“More intense disturbances mean greater damage to reefs, so recovery must take longer if the growth rate remains the same. At the same time, the intervals between acute disturbance events are decreasing and chronic stresses such as high turbidity and high ocean temperatures can slow rates of recovery.”

Yellow and purple sea anemone and coral at the Great Barrier Reef.

“The geographic scale of recent bleaching means that breeding populations of corals have been decimated over large areas, reducing the potential sources of larvae to recolonise reefs over the next years,” the report says.

Biodegradable surface films to protect coral at the Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef Foundation champions real solutions to the threats facing the Great Barrier Reef. It is the lead charity dedicated to protecting the GBR by funding dedicated science, technology, engineering and on-ground action.

Orange and pink fish swim among coral at the Great Barrier Reef.

The Foundation leads the collaboration of business, science, government and philanthropy – groups who would not otherwise come together – to ensure a future for this global treasure.

The Great Barrier Reef is beautiful, diverse and irreplaceable. Go see it. Help save it. And donate here.

Orange fan coral at the Great Barrier Reef.

Read more about Ocean Beauties all this week on BeautifulNow.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Mind/Body, Soul/Impact, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Arts/Design, and Place/Time, Daily Fix posts.

Bleached coral at the Great Barrier Reef.

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Clown fish hides in sea anemone and coral at the Great Barrier Reef.

IMAGE CREDITS:

Image: Great Barrier Reef. Courtesy of Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Image: Starfish on coral at the Great Barrier Reef. Courtesy of Great Barrier Reef Foundation
Image: Marine life at the Great Barrier Reef. Courtesy of Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Image: Aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef. Courtesy of Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Image: Coral at the Great Barrier Reef. Courtesy of Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Image: Fan Coral at the Great Barrier Reef. Courtesy of Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Image: Diver inspects bleached coral at the Great Barrier Reef. Courtesy of Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Image: Coral at the Great Barrier Reef. Courtesy of Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Image: Biodegradable surface films to protect coral at the Great Barrier Reef. Courtesy of Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Image: Fish and coral at the Great Barrier Reef. Courtesy of Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Image: Fan Coral at the Great Barrier Reef. Courtesy of Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Image: Bleached coral at the Great Barrier Reef. Courtesy of Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Image: Clown fish hides in sea anemone and coral at the Great Barrier Reef. Courtesy of Great Barrier Reef Foundation.